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VW Asks to Delay U.S. Diesel Emission Trials Over Hitler Reference
Volkswagen AG has asked a judge to delay several U.S. lawsuits involving rigged diesel emission controls because a lawyer representing hundreds of VW customers made “inflammatory” comments about the company.
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Volkswagen AG has asked a judge to delay several U.S. lawsuits involving rigged diesel emission controls because a lawyer representing hundreds of VW customers made “inflammatory” comments about the company.
The attorney, Michael Melkersen, appears in a new Netflix documentary about the rigged diesels, in which he comments on the revelation that in 2014 VW backed tests that subjected monkeys (and later humans) to toxic diesel fumes. Melkersen obliquely references Adolph Hitler and the Holocaust by citing “events involving individuals being gassed by a person who was actually at the opening of the very first Volkswagen factory.”
The carmaker, saying that the reference could prejudice jurors, seeks a six-month “cooling off” period. Melkerson dismisses the motion as “hogwash,” and declares to Reuters that “this is another tactic to postpone [VW’s] day of reckoning.”
VW has settled with most of its 500,000 customers in the U.S. who bought diesels the company had configured to evade emission laws. But several hundred owners opted to sue instead.
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